WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India

Symantec Claims That Blogs Spread More Malware Than Porn Websites

Denzil — Sat, 26 May 2012 05:30:06 +0000

In what seems to be a very strange yet interesting report, Internet Security Company Symantec has listed Blogs and Web Communication tools as being more dangerous than pornography websites. This news is at complete odds with the established belief that the shady folks over at all those pornography websites are always filling up your computer with the bad stuff! Whenever someone’s device or account gets compromised with spam, viruses and trojans, judgements are swiftly made about the person’s nefarious browsing habits! And now, Symantec has potentially turned that notion on its head with this report.

The report is called Internet Security Threat Report based on the trends of 2011. It is fairly detailed and this amazing fact comes up when they list the top 10 genre websites that may lead to a higher risk of getting infected with malware and other less desirable things.

Here is the list of the website types that are dangerous:

Blogs and Web communication

Hosting and personal hosted site

Business and economy

Education and reference

Technology

Entertainment and music

Automotive

Health and medicine

Pornography

The report further says that 20% of all blogs and web communication sites are filled with malware. Next come hosting sites and business websites with a malware count of 15% and 10% each. Pornographic websites contain only 2% malware by comparison! It seems that all the seedy porn companies have cleaned up their act over the years. Symantec’s report offers an explanation.

“It’s because pornographic website owners already make money from the internet and, as a result, have a vested interest in keeping their sites malware-free – it’s not good for repeat business.”

Well, that part about pornographic websites making boatloads of money is true. You can read all about it here. What actually surprises us is the fact that they have listed ‘Blogs’ as the most dangerous!

You can read the full Symantec report here.

We have combed our site after hearing this bit of news and we have found nothing suspicious! So don’t worry and keep reading our blog for all the latest developments in Web, Advertising and Technology.

Have a great weekend!

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Planning For A Corporate Party? Check GetMyMeal Out

Denzil — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:30:04 +0000

Corporate parties and dinners can be a nerve wrenching experience for people who are tasked with planning them. There are so many factors at play and something or the other is bound to go wrong somewhere, especially the co-ordination over food! GetMyMeal is a startup that takes care of all your corporate dining needs. The service has found a valuable niche which is surely going to give them good returns if they play it right.

Getmymeal was founded by Tenzin Thargay, Poonam Kanwal and Vivek Jha, all of whom who hail from such diverse backgrounds as Engineering, Software Development and Advertising. They all have a sizable amount of experience professionally and have decided to pool in their collective strengths to start this venture.

The service takes a leaf out of Redbus.in’s page and efficiently utilises the spare capacities of established kitchens to deliver quality and variety in the food being served. This is a win-win for both the service and the kitchens and it represents a mutual profit for both. The venture has already received its first round of funding and are seeking a second round to grow its operations in the city. Currently they operate out of Santacruz in Mumbai and cover both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai areas.

Their story so far:

They have tied‐up with kitchens like Tajsats, Birdy’s & some institutional kitchens. They plan to add 10‐15 kitchens in another 3‐4 months

They have served around 200+ corporate clients till date

They have done 30‐50 group events per month so far & have seen a growth of 30‐40% on a month on month basis

The team consists of 14-15 people only.

They operate throughout Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

Their business model is pretty sound. They earn over each transaction and as the business scales, they project that they will earn more revenue from advertising the service as well. They plan to do up to 15 parties/day by 2013 which is pretty sweet because it will net them a significant yearly revenue at an average cost of Rs. 400 per plate. Currently they handle all the logistics, food delivery, crockery, cutlery, serving personnel etc. Their challenge now is to hire the right kind of professionals who could grow the service.

We think that Getmymeal is a fantastic initiative and wish them luck on the road ahead.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

MagicBricks launches India’s 1st iPad app for Property Search!

Denzil — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:30:49 +0000

Magic Bricks is one company that is pioneering the online property search space in India. The company had launched their app for the iPhone and Android in addition to their mobile website offering. Today, they have announced the launch of their exclusive iPad app.

We all know how the tablet market in India pretty much favors Apple’s device and making an app for the iPad makes a lot of sense if you want to reach out to many of the product’s users (known to be major portion of the total tablet using populace). That being said, the tablet industry in India has a lot of scope to grow and it has been predicted to grow by 71% annually from this year on.

Sudhir Pai, Business Head, MagicBricks believes in platform agnosticism and putting the customer first instead of the platform.

“Launching the MB-HD iPad app is the natural progression of MagicBricks’ device agnostic experience strategy. MagicBricks has already extended itself to the mobile screen by introducing both India’s Fastest Mobile WAP site and India’s first Android and iPhone Real Estate Apps. MB-HD has now been launched with in-depth user behaviour studies & insights being transformed by rigorously developed and testing to serve our audiences in the best possible manner.”

Magicbricks realized that there was significant traffic to its site from people living abroad and realized that they could connect better with all these potential users by launching an app conforming with International standards and platforms. The technology and mobile usage are growing swiftly in India too and hence its a win-win situation for the company. MagicBricks says that the app is HD and provides a very visual and elegant approach to searching and buying houses online.

Here are some screenshots and we must say that the app does look nice.

Some key features:

- Clutter Free – No Ads
- Easy Property, Agent and New Projects Search
- Displays Results with Images
- Filter & Refine search results
- Fastest way to find properties and projects near your location using Nearby Feature
- Get direction to the properties and projects on Map
- Contact advertisers on the go
- See price trends to get property price indication
- Create property alerts to get matching properties automatically on your email
- Bookmark your favorite Properties, Agents & Projects
- Share the property or project details quickly via email, Facebook, Twitter
- Compatible with all iPad Versions – Requires iOS 3.2 or later

The app brings full MagicBricks functionality to the tablet and is a must for all those are currently hunting for property.

Download it here and share with us what you think of the app.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Google Adds Subscription Billing To Google Play

Aatif Sumar — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:10:49 +0000

Google’s Play Store formerly called the Android Market, is one of the largest App Stores around. Along with Apple’s App Store and the Nokia Store, Google Play is one of the leaders in terms of number of downloads per day.

As the Android Operating System has evolved over the years, so has the market. Last year, in-app-purchasing was added, which meant developers no longer had to release one paid and one ‘Lite’ version of the same app. Users could unlock all the features of the app from within by paying with Google Checkout. Now, another feature had been added: In App Subscriptions.

In a move that will please content developers, users can now subscribe to regular content, be it weekly or monthly or annually, from inside the app itself. After verifying their credentials once, they will automatically be billed as per the cycle they have agreed upon. They have also included published based APIs (HTTP Based) for enterprise servers to manage subscriptions.

Further, the same subscription can me managed from the PC on the app developer’s site and from the Play Store app. A lot of time and thought has gone into setting this up and it can lead to a different way of us looking at traditional apps. As usual, Google will keep 30% of the pie, giving the remaining 70% to developers. However, Google doesn’t seem to be keeping the entire 30% since it relies on Carrier Billing in some markets, hence the Telecom Operators will be getting their share from it. While Google may not be the first to introduce In App Subscription, with Apple beating them to it, they may be the ones to make it more mainstream. This all falls in place with Google’s Strategy of introducing a Music Store, Movies, Shows, Books and Apps all in one.

While Google Play Store’s presence may be impressive in some countries, in India it is woefully inadequate. Payments to Google Checkout can only be done through Credit Cards and a select few Debit Cards. Google Music and Movies do not work. There is no Carrier Billing. Also a lot of other app stores exist in India like Mobango and even MTS. Nokia’s Ovi Store is the only one that offer Carrier Billing to its customers. They have a long way to go in India.

What are your opinions regarding this new functionality in Google Play? Share them with us.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Facebook Releases Camera App For iOS But Doesn’t Include Any Instagram Features..

Alap Naik Desai — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:45:08 +0000

Social Networking company, Facebook has just released a camera app for Apple’s iOS. Titled, ‘Facebook Camera of iOS’, the application looks & functions almost identical to Instagram. The free application makes a sincere attempt at improving the photo capabilities offered by Facebook’s primary app for iPhone and iPod touch devices.

What’s special? Just like Instagram, the photos are displayed in a single endless scrolling feed. Additionally, Facebook has enabled multi-upload of photos. Earlier users could upload single photos only. Simple image manipulation tools like crop, rotate & apply quirky filters are also built-in. Facebook had spent US$ 1 Billion in acquiring the Photo sharing startup Instagram. While many believe that Facebook overpaid, it will be quite some time before Facebook can officially incorporate the same into their eco-system. In order to circumvent the red-tape, this could be an interim solution.

Why couldn’t Facebook simply wait? Well, Facebook has many features that can’t be simply bundled in a single application. Facebook had earlier released a dedicated messaging app. Such isolated functionalities can easily help users do what they love the most, without being bothered about needless functionalities.

These apps reveal Facebook’s commitment towards the mobile phones. These small & portable devices will be the ones to define success for social networking companies in the future, just like they are doing it for online commerce. Additionally, the poor performance of Facebook shares was a rude wake-up call. The social networking giant had to do something about this.

A while ago Google had attempted a similar revamp with their social networking initiative Google+’s iPhone app. Do you think isolating features in apps is a good move?

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Square To Get Tough Competition From Groupon & Paypal

Denzil — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:02:44 +0000

Square might have been the first one to develop mobile payment processing for retailers but it will definitely not be the only one this year. Both PayPal and Groupon have jumped on the mobile payment idea and are rolling out their equivalents soon.

PayPal had already announced its PayPal Here offering more than a month ago. Now, the company has made deals with some leading retailers which would allow their customers to pay for the goods they shop for, directly from their mobile phones. Let’s look into what both the companies are working on.

Groupon:

After an underwhelming performance in its IPO, Groupon has been working hard to maintain the its colossal growth and at the same time stabilise the company. Their CEO, Andrew Mason addressed a letter to his stockholders saying that he wants to build Groupon into an ‘Operating System for local commerce’. This part is specially important as Groupon has been rumored to be testing out its Square-like offering right now.

Here are some details that have emerged:

1. The transaction fee is supposedly 1.8% along with a charge of 15 cents per transaction processed through their terminal. In comparison, Square charges 2.75% per transaction and has no extra per transaction fee. Paypal Here charges 2.7% as the transaction fee. Only Groupon has a per transaction fee of 15 cent.

2. Groupon is reportedly offering an iPod Touch and a card reader to their merchants for free! Both PayPal Here and Square give out their card readers for free and nothing else. This is somewhat of an overkill as it forces PayPal Here and Square to think fast to counter this.

3. Groupon’s product is already being used/tested in select areas in San Francisco. So we are looking at this product launching very soon.

PayPal:

The news is that PayPal has struck a deal with 15 leading retail businesses such as Toys R Us, J C Penney and Barnes & Noble. Now their consumers can easily pay for their purchases through their mobile phones. This also lets the company enter into physical retail segments and that is a big business opportunity for the online payment company. Home Depot started accepting PayPal in 2000 of its stores earlier this year. PayPal has also big plans for Asia in the coming months.

The merchants are keen to adopt services like these because they are cheaper and easier than normal credit card transactions. This is also a win-win for PayPal and other online companies because now these services can break the barrier of being online and extend their services to the physical world. This will help these next-gen Internet companies to create a disruption in the process and mechanism of offline payments. The other retailers that PayPal has tied up with are Office Depot, American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Rooms To Go, Jos. A. Bank, Aeropostale, Foot Locker, Nine West, Jamba Juice, Guitar Center, TigerDirect and Advance Auto Parts. We are wondering when a service like this will hit India. PayPal has never really taken off in India due to the regulations from the RBI. You can read more about it here.

The mobile transaction services for retailers was started by Square and has now gotten somewhat crowded with every online payment companies getting on to it. Square, the originator of the idea and the product, faces some very tough competition in Groupon and PayPal and it will have to up its game to survive in this rapidly growing field.

What do you feel about the offerings from these companies? Share your views with us.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Yahoo’s iPad App To Offer Sight-Seeing Tips Based On Flickr Images

Alap Naik Desai — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:31:57 +0000

Yahoo! is all set to launch a unique application to manage one’s time in a foreign destination. Titled TimeTraveler, the app lets tourists manage their available time in the best possible way to see the places that are most popular. The app is currently available only for Apple iOS Platform & limited to just 23 destinations in the world.

What’s Unique? A while ago TripAdvisor had come up with a Tour Planning initiative. Well, people can easily plan for tips if they have time in hand & provided they do it before embarking on journey. Using its own Flickr’s image & Yahoo’s intelligent engine will recommend the shortest routes & best places to visit depending on the available time. Hence the recommendation will vary as per the amount of time fed into it.

How to use it? One has to simply input destination, starting point & the time you are available. TimeTraveler will then automatically find points of interest, tourist destinations, and historic monuments. It will also map them into an itinerary tailored to time-limits and desired route. All this can be easily shared with friends via email, or social networking.

How does it work? Since photos taken by modern cameras are equipped with time & geo-location, those of which are uploaded to Yahoo’s own photo sharing portal Flickr are used to determine optimum time & duration for those sites. Since such data can & must be re-used, any successful trip can be easily saved in the ‘cloud’ & indirectly becomes a reference point for many.

After confirming its presence in the search category, Yahoo has gone ahead & confirmed its commitment to help time-starved travelers have the best experience from their trips.

Have an iOS Device? Check it out and let us know what you think.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Airtel Intends To Tap Lucrative Markets With 49% Acquisition Of Qualcomm India For Rs. 907 Crores

Alap Naik Desai — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:21:49 +0000

Bharti Airtel has acquired 49% stake in Qualcomm India for US$ 165 Million (Rs. 907 Crores). The company intends to have a say in Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) for select regions in India.

Airtel has chosen the perfect time to invest in the company. Our readers will surely recall how Qualcomm had to fight bitterly with Indian government to retain what it had rightfully acquired. At one point in time Qualcomm was about to lose its license & money too. But fortunately, it was able to win it back. Once its entry was confirmed, Airtel simply chose to pump in money to hitch a ride. With this acquisition Airtel will gain entry in additional 4 key circles for the 4G LTE market & that will bring its total active presence to 8 of the total 22 circles in India.

While Airtel has already brought 4G in India, it is in the form of USB Dongles only. With Qualcomm’s expertise & hardware support, Airtel will be able to easily spread its wings in the niche 4G market to Mumbai, Delhi, Haryana & Kerala. Qualcomm had shelled out Rs. 4,912 Crores (US$ 1 Billion) for these 4 circles.

Additionally, if things pan out to Airtel’s likening, the company is looking forward to buying the remaining 51% too!

While some companies are being driven out of the 4G market, Airtel seems determined to make a mark & make a profit. Qualcomm’s investments in India have always faced some roadblocks. Its WiMAX was overshadowed by Reliance’s LTE. However, with Airtel’s extensive experience not only in India, but on foreign soil too, it will be interesting how this promising new technology is commercially exploited. Should Qualcomm simply give-up its efforts for money?

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Spuul Aims To Stream Its Way Into Bollywood Market; Launches Brand New iOS App

MItesh — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:23:01 +0000

Singapore based startup Spuul has launched an all new iOS app which will let users across the globe, stream bollywood movies and in the future even shows and sports content. As for now, Spuul has close to 300 movie titles.

Spuul has been founded by seasoned entrepreneurs including Sudesh Iyer, Founder of Sony Entertainment TV in India, and S. Mohan, Founder of Palo Alto-based Accellion, buUuk and a number of other technology and venture companies.

While reviewing Spuul we liked the fact that user can pause a movie anywhere and then can resume the same from the spot any time. Also, movie titles can be viewed by the user within 72 hours of unlimited viewing as against the common 48 hour duration provided by other service providers. In addition to access over 100 free movies, Spuul offers two payment options: Specials, which are pay per view movies: US$0.99 per movie. The Premium subscription, which gives access to watch it all, is available: $4.99/month (introductory price).

While users can log in quickly through a hassle free Facebook login – which makes the access quicker, one cannot buy the subscription through the app and will have to go onto Spuul’s website. It is assumed that buying from the website can save upto 30% cost charged by Apple for in-app transactions.

We were satisfied with the quality of streaming but there are no user options for selecting the streaming resolutions, as lot of users with good connectivity would prefer at-least 720p streaming. Apart from these few shortcomings we can say that Spuul has done a good job to get lot of movie titles on board.

Considering the size of the Indian movie industry and the scale of commerce associated with it, one can say that Spuul has set their eyes on a lucrative e-commerce vertical. It has always been debated that despite the size and market of Bollywood there hasn’t been a single “go-to” stop for the users. With the launch of iOS app and soon an Android app we see Spuul aiming for that spot.

Barring few shortcoming we say app has a great future if it can continue to acquire enough movie titles alongside some great customer service.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Windows 8 Will Run On 500 Million Devices: Microsoft

Alap Naik Desai — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:30:24 +0000

At the recent Seoul Digital Forum in South Korea, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has made promised that 500 Million devices could run Windows 8.

The highly anticipated next iteration of Windows after Windows 7, simply titled Windows 8 is the first Operating System (OS) that is built keeping in mind the emerging market of tablets.

Windows 8, currently is the only OS that is designed to run seamlessly on both the Desktops as well as Tablets. While Blackberry’s revolutionary OS 10 may have QNX technology behind it, the Playbooks still require a tether with the phones to work fully.

How did Ballmer come up with this figure? The CEO simply extrapolated the number of Windows 7 Licenses sold world-wide. Since all of the PCs that can run Windows 7, will be able to comfortably run Windows 8, Ballmer is confident of offloading the same number of Windows 8 Licenses.

Windows is currently run on more than 92% of Desktops world-wide. Unfortunately, it is also the most widely pirated software. Though Microsoft is in constant battle against hackers, sometimes its just not enough. Though Microsoft may be leading in the Desktop market, it’s the mobile phones & tablets that the company needs to focus on.

Currently the portable computer market is dominated by Apple & closely followed by Google’s Android. Microsoft has yet to come up with a tablet-specific OS. However, given the clout it enjoys in the Desktop market, we can easily speculate that Windows 8 will be a great success provided there is powerful hardware backing it.

Though Steve Ballmer can’t stop complimenting Windows 8 as, “Deepest, broadest and most impactful software the company has ever created”, it will be the users who will ultimately decide its fate.

What are your expectation from Windows 8 when it comes out?

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Garmin Introduces GPS Devices With Hindi Support

Clara Kangare — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:30:47 +0000

The GPS (Global Position Satellite) navigation system has no doubt helped a lot of us in this complicated world of driving and directions. Physical road-maps are the tools of the past and GPS assists drivers in navigating across unfamiliar territory with confidence. Taking into account the amount of time Indians spent on Internet via mobile it is not surprising to come across a report which says, “New navigation device rolled out with Hindi and Indian English language support“.

These two new navigation devices are called 40LM and 50LM and they have been launched by satellite navigation company, Garmin. The devices are priced at Rs 8,450 and Rs 9,990 for nüvi 40LM and 50LM respectively. It is reported that NAVTEQ maps will be used by these two devices. This year itself NAVTEQ has managed to boost its services twice by launching its navigation traffic service across metro cities and by bringing out NAVTEQ Traffic Pro.

After Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, Gmail , YouTube as well as Wikipedia supporting Indian regional languages to gain more attention and usage from masses, it is not surprising to see that even navigational devices will now feature Indic language support. In fact, according to one of the sources, “Voice guidance in Hindi will further help in popularising the devices.”

In the year 2009, MapmyIndia brought out Version 3.0 of MapmyIndia maps betting on the fact that the new maps would cover 90% of the pan-Indian population with the most comprehensive and detailed information/directions.

Have you been guided by any of these navigation devices till now? What was your experience?

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Vodafone India Defeats The Odds And Posts A Profitable Quarter

Aatif Sumar — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:21:54 +0000

The Indian Telecom Sector is not an easy industry to be in. Intense competition exists as there are so many players. Further, the Indian Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is one of the lowest in the world, with rates being rock bottom. The TRAI doesn’t help, by making their life difficult with retro-active tax laws, re-auctions of a year old spectrum.

However, in this environment, Vodafone actually made a profit. It hasn’t been an easy road, with Vodafone losing money initially on their huge capital investment in India. Their income tax troubles with the Government compounded this. However, Vodafone Group has posted a 14% Growth in Operating Earnings, which now stands at Rs 9,740 Crores for 2011-12. Factors that have been attributed to this are good growth in voice minutes and a rising consumer base. Compared to 2010-11′s 3.85 Billion Pounds, Vodafone saw a surge in Revenue to 4.26 Billion Pounds. EBITDA too rose from 985 million to 1120 million pounds.

“Service revenue grew by 19.5 per cent, driven by an 11.8 per cent increase in the customer base, strong growth in incoming and outgoing voice minutes and 51.3 per cent growth in data revenue. In India, pricing showed clear signs of stabilisation after a prolonged price war. Our focus on the key growth areas of data, emerging markets and enterprise is positioning us well in a difficult macroeconomic environment. Our commercial performance and our ability to leverage scale continue to be strong, enabling us to gain or hold market share in most of our key markets, and reduce the rate of margin decline,”, said Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao.

We are not so sure of their statement that the ‘prolonged price war’ is over, given the falling 3G rates amongst all operators in India. Nevertheless, it is reassuring seeing a major telecom operator making a profit in our market. It is bound to stem the rising dissatisfaction in Vodafone’s ranks with the TRAI’s attitude toward operators.

What do you think? Will other operators too post successful financial results? Do let us know in the comments below.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Jury Decides That Google Didn’t Infringe On Oracle Code

Denzil — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:46:40 +0000

In what has been an almost 2 year old case between Google and Oracle over the copyright and patent issues over the use of Java technology in Android, the jury of the U.S District Court of North Carolina has decided in favor of Google in the patent infringement part of the lawsuit. Both the company and Android enthusiasts can breathe a sigh of relief. The case has raised concerns from everyone on what would happen to Android if Oracle won the suit. The patent scenario is very complicated in the Technology business at present and a lot of company are suing each other over alleged infringements.

Source: Slashgear.com

The complication arose soon after Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems in early January for US $7.4 billion. The Java language and the subsequent framework were created by Sun which was now in Oracle’s hand. Google had chosen Java as a primary pillar in creating its Android platform. They use something called the Dalvik Virtual Machine which translates programs written in Java into a virtual executable files. Dalvik is licensed as open source under the Apache Open Source License. Google says that this is a clean room implementation (reverse engineering) of the Java language and thus it comes under fair usage. It was thus established that Google hadn’t infringed on Oracle patents i.e. U.S. Patent RE 38,104 and U.S. Patent 6,061,520.

Although the jury earlier thought that Google infringed upon the patents, it could not decide unanimously over the fact that Google used a clean room implementation. Some of the codes are indeed similar but they are not significantly infringing Oracle’s patents. The trial has begun as a very doomsday scenario for Google since if Oracle won, the company would have to license the infringing part and thus pay a huge sum of money ($1 billion) for it in damages.

And #Googacle The Trial is over. Judge Alsup dismissing jury. Since Oracle won virtually nothing, no damages phase at this point.

— Ginny LaRoe (@GinnyLaRoe) May 23, 2012

This trial is not over as the Judge, William Alsup has yet to make a decision on whether Google infringed Oracle’s Java copyrights, since the jury couldn’t get to an agreement on the issue earlier. This judgment is likely to be delivered this coming Monday.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

CBSE Pushes Out Results Via Mobiles

Alap Naik Desai — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:41:59 +0000

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has put out Class X results of the Chennai region through IVR & SMS. The rest of the regions will have their results ready by 4 o’clock today evening.

Quite some time back in 2010, Rediff had managed to offer SSC results online. The education system has come a long way on its own.

Source: newsreporter.in

How can students know their results:

Well, the board has offered two methods using the all-important mobiles for the same:

Students can dial +91 – 11 – 24357276 & make use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to get results. An all India number 011 –28127030 has been dedicated to offer the results too. Anxious students can also opt for the traditional route of SMS. They simply need to type CBSE10 and send an SMS to 9212357123. Though the service is free, standard SMS rates will be applicable.

Though the core education system is still at its nascent stage of technology adoption, many companies are already gearing up to offer quality education through use of modern technology. Following the fiasco of Aakash I, Kapil Sibal might have granted a huge monetory boost to Aakash II, but we still have to see the refined product up close. However, its competitors are already rearing their heads.

The use of Technology in the Education field has now become mandatory to ensure high standards & quick delivery of updated content. Realizing this, companies like Carveniche are working on innovative platforms. Furthermore, the cloud computing phenomenon can truly boost the education in our country where many regions are still inaccessible.

Though the CBSE board has taken baby steps, it is still inspirational for other boards as well. In case students want to access their results online they can visit to any of the following websites:

www.results.nic.in

www.cbseresults.nic.in

www.cbse.nic.in

Good Luck Students!

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Yahoo Launches New Browser Called Axis For iOS And Desktops

Denzil — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:33:40 +0000

The fact that search engines can devise their own browsers to leverage searches and make it easy for users to get their information easily came to light when Google launched their browser Chrome. Bing picked up by tying up its search with IE. Yahoo was the only other search engine to not have its dedicated browser and used to rely completely on its toolbars embedded in other browsers. Now that has changed with the struggling search giant debuting its own web browser called Axis.

Yahoo’s Axis is a browser which connects seamlessly between your computer, your iPad and the iPhone. This concept is not new since Chrome introduced the same feature after the Chrome 19 update. Chrome also offers mobile sync with its Android app. Yahoo is looking at edging Google by introducing Axis first primarily on iOS platforms. Axis is definitely more visual in nature than Chrome and has a very good UI in addition to its features.

Some of its salient features are:

1. Visual Search: The Axis browser focuses mostly on a more visual kind of search which can easily deliver more information to the user than mere text can. The visual approach is important and many content and search companies are looking deep into it. A prime example would be how Facebook has been focusing more on showing bigger photos and arranging them appropriately in their web and mobile interface. We will give Axis the thumbs up for this.

2. Bing integration: Yahoo’s search deal with Microsoft’s Bing makes Bing the default search provider on Axis. This will definitely drive up traffic to Bing. Both Bing and Yahoo seem to have united to take on Google in the search business. Although the market-share in terms of search may not change overnight, this is a good effort.

3. Yahoo on Mobile: This release brings Yahoo’s services to the mobile in a big way. Google may have conquered the mobile app space because of the proliferation of Android. The mobile device functionality of Axis will be one of the most innovative things Yahoo has come up in the mobile space in some time.

4. Cross-Platform: The most important aspect of any software/service is its cross platform availability. For a service to truly scale and see massive adoption, it is obvious that it needs to support multiple platforms. Axis works on the desktop and iOS devices. Currently, there is no word on Android, Blackberry and Linux support. The desktop support that Axis provides is not strictly accurate. There is no desktop app as such. It is a plugin which you can tie-up with your browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE. The plugin opens up the Axis browser when you are surfing on the browser of your choice. Thankfully, it has been done really well, so it does not interrupt your browsing session in addition to augmenting your browsing experience. You can see more of this functionality in the video that we have posted below.

5. Cross Device Syncing: This feature lets you continue your reading, browsing and research from any of the supported devices. All you have to do is hit the ‘Continue on other devices’ button and you are ready to pick up where you left from on your previous device.

6. No Ads: As of now, there are no ads on the service. Yahoo is probably trying to gain more adoption from users before they try to monetize it.

Here’s the full demo video that Yahoo has provided:

There are some issues though. The Next Web reports that Yahoo hasn’t published any terms/conditions for this product and this is strange since the service requires some very serious user permissions. Secondly, a researcher has found that Axis’ Chrome extension is vulnerable to attack and Yahoo has pulled that extension down for now.

Besides these concerns, we think that this offering is a substantial leap ahead for Yahoo which has not been doing well particularly because of the problems in leadership that it has been facing recently. We hope that Axis gains significant traction and thus provide more options for people who want to access the Internet.

Check it out here: axis.yahoo.com

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Can Gamification Of Concepts Revolutionize The Education Process?

Aatif Sumar — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:05:42 +0000

The World Wide Web is a potent tool, with endless use case scenarios. It lead to emails, which killed traditional post. It lead to online gaming, which killed the video game arcade. It changed the way we bank, shop, and travel. In a country like India, Information Technology and the Mobile Web have affected us the most. Now a large percentage of Indians are connected to the Internet through at least one medium. However, one sector has still been shielded from the dynamic effects of the web: The Sector!

Decade old syllabi, unmotivated teachers and lack of upgradation has meant today’s children learn in school in just the same way people were learning 20 years ago. However, this could all change. There exist some trailblazers who are trying to change the way our kids learn and the way they apply it in day to day life, through a process known as Gamification. Gamification is the use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts.

Today’s students are used to playing games like Angry Birds, where they are graded on how well they complete each level. The more levels they complete and the better, the higher their score. Further, this score can be compared with the rest of their friends. Innovators have attempted to harness this inherent love for games in children, and tried to make them learn something more out of it. One such company is ClassToppers.

With over 10,000 users already, their Social Mission is:

To make learning and studying fun for students and give them more confidence in school.

To save teachers time and make their jobs easier so they can focus on helping their students.

Says Co-founder Jatin Patel,”The game-based software operates on the concept that each learner is different. The software throws up questions in three different ways. Only if the students get it right, can he/she proceed to the next level. There are 35 different analytical tools which track a student’s progress“.

Another name which we cannot miss is the famous Khan Academy. Its a free collection of over 3000 ‘micro-lectures’ has played a large role in bringing Education to anyone, anywhere.

Such innovations in Education can be said to truly make ground-breaking change when our Government acknowledges them and tries to implement them. If Kapil Sibal’s Akash Tablet vision truly takes place, maybe a System can be put into place which is tailor made for Indian school children.

What do you think? Is India ready for such change? Do let us know in the comments below.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Sify & Vidyo To Introduce Video Conferencing For Small Businesses

Alap Naik Desai — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:56:42 +0000

Indian Internet & Communications Tools (ICT) provider Sify & US based Video conferencing company Vidyo Inc have partnered to launch Video Conferencing as a Service in India.

Titled Sify Videomeet, the service is primarily aimed at small businesses & emerging enterprises.

What’s so special? A while ago Tulip Telecom had tied up with Polycom to bring Hi-Def Video conferencing in India. However, the service was aimed at medium & large enterprises. They attempted to leverage existing infrastructure of these companies. Sify, on the the other hand intends to offer a complete & simple package making the total cost of equipment ownership almost nil.

The Video Conferencing as a Service will offer high-definition (HD), multi-point video collaboration beyond conventional conference rooms, without dedicated networks and on multiple devices. In simpler words, companies can initiate a video conference using just the infrastructure provided by Sify & Vidyo. Sify already has a cloud-based solution that can be easily tailored to meet the high-bandwidth demand of the Hi-Def Video. Using cloud-based technologies, Vidyo’s services work over broadband internet, LTE, and 4G networks. Owing to such flexibility Sify can easily offer its Video-conferencing over multiple devices like mobile phones, tablets, desktops, laptops and room systems. With phones & tablets getting powerful, the company can envisage a wide adoption rate.

The Videomeet package will enable emerging businesses and enterprises to avail video conferencing at less than Rs. 3 per minute. Customers can also opt to pay a fixed rental for getting unlimited video conferencing access or simply go for the ‘Pay-Per-Use’ option. Many companies are gearing up to cater to small companies. A while ago PayPal had announced its plans to focus on SMEs. Earlier, Blackberry manufacturer RIM decided to offer enterprise level setups to small companies. Even Google has stepped up to lend its helping hand.

With so many cloud services popping up, will the Indian SMEs and SMBs benefit greatly? Share your views with us.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Wipro Launches Free Corporate iPhone App

Denzil — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:10:50 +0000

iPhone apps are really picking up in this country. Wipro Technologies has just launched their free corporate iPhone app for anyone to download and use. Wipro Technologies is the Global IT, Consulting and outsourcing arm of Wipro Ltd.

The app is available in the Apple iTunes store for download. IT professionals (both Wipro and Non-wipro employees) can use this app to access Wipro Corporate News, its white papers, blogs and articles by senior management, press releases, new and events across all its global centres. Wipro Technologies is present in around 54 countries!

Suchira Iyer, Chief Marketing Officer, IT Business of Wipro Ltd. says the company understands the people’s demands for information.

“Wipro Buzz will not only keep our customers up to date with Wipro’s thought leadership but will also help better integration of our increasingly mobile sales and marketing teams. Today, users demand access to information on the go to do their business better and take quicker informed decisions. Wipro understands this need.”

The app sports social media platform integration and users can share interesting news and posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. One strange and seemingly random feature is the built-in route mapping tool and digital pedometer which will help runners keep track of their statistics. Wipro says that they are strongly associated with sports since they sponsor a number of marathons globally. The app caters to a pretty niche crowd. Only serious IT and Tech industry people will download and use it. Nonetheless, the most interesting part is the growing number of iPhone and Android apps that are rolling out of Indian companies. Think of this app like an official website, but only on the phone. That is how all companies will look at it now. The corporate mobile website is probably going to die soon.

What do you think?

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Monster Launches It’s iOS App; Makes Job Search Easier

Denzil — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:29:23 +0000

Monster India is one of India’s leading online career and recruitment services. The company announced the launch of its iOS app today. The app is tailored for all professionals and job-seekers who want to explore new career opportunities on the go. The app brings Monster’s full functionality to the iOS platform.

Some of the key features of this app are:

On the move access: Professionals and job-seekers can now create and use their Monster accounts right from their iPhone and iPad.

Search and apply on the move: The app gives professionals the ability check out new opportunities and apply instantly on the go from anywhere.

Career Services: Take advantage of Monster’s tips on acing job interviews and on success at the workplace.

Change Location: You can now use the app the change your location on Monster’s website and use it in different countries.

Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com(India/ Middle East/ South East Asia) said the launch of iOS app was keeping in line with increasing sales if the iPhone among tech-savvy professionals in India.

“We are excited to introduce our latest addition, Monster iPhone and iPad applications to our suite of Monster Mobile Solutions. Monster Mobile Solutions is robust offering that caters to jobseekers who are constantly on the move. Owing to the pervasive nature of mobile, the Indian smartphone industry is witnessing high-intensity growth, and is expected to comprise 12%-14% of the mobile handset sales in 2012. And given the growing popularity of iPhone and iPads amongst gadget-savvy youth, the Monster app will provide jobseekers with a dynamic, efficient and convenient option to keep a track of jobs at their convenience. Coupled with Monster’s inherent understanding of user’s requirements and innovation amidst of its initiatives, we aim to extensively tap latest technologies including mobile to better connect with users.”

The introduction of the iPhone app now makes Monster a truly cross-platform service. They already have Blackberry, Android and Windows apps and this addition will definitely help them cover all its user segments.

The app can be downloaded for both the iPhone and the iPad.

Check out the app and let us know what you think of it.

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

3G Tariff War Officially On As Vodafone, IDEA and Reliance follow Airtel, Aircel. [With Tariff Plans]

Aatif Sumar — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:07:36 +0000

3G Networks coming to India was a huge step forward in the Telecom business. The auctions had shattered all records and thousand of crores were paid for licenses to provide 3G in various parts of India. Since no operator had pan-India connectivity, operators got into Roaming Agreements with each other to help out their customers. Unfortunately, the Government did not like this and banned them from doing so. Since their launch over a year ago, most providers have been charging prohibitively high 3G tariffs, in an attempt to recover their huge capital investment of buying the spectrum. In fact, we had even pegged that as the reason 3G failed to achieve any critical momentum in India. Now, this is all set to change.

State run MTNL and BSNL always had the most affordable 3G Data rates, but other factors kept people away from switching over. Telecom operator Aircel started the war last month being the first private operator to reduce 3G rates. After that, market leader Airtel reduced their 3G rates a week ago.

Now, Vodafone (second in the country in number of customers) has slashed their 3G Rates. IDEA Cellular too has followed suit and slashed its 3G Rates. We also have word that Reliance also just reduced the pricing on their 3G Plans too.

The revised plans of these operators can be found below. Tariff’s courtesy TelecomTalk.info

Aircel

Airtel

IDEA Cellular

Vodafone

Reliance

The fact that most large players have reacted to the price revisions is a good sign for the average customer. So far, 3G charges have been between 5-10 times more expensive than the same 2G EDGE data plans. Further, 3G coverage has been spotty and battery intensive. This has caused a lot of people to give it a miss and stick to 2G, even though their devices can easily support high speed data transfer.

The introduction of more affordable 3G Plans will go a long way in making consumers switch over to 3G. A lot of mobile web services will be able to explore new avenues if more and more consumers switch to 3G. Audio and Video Streaming services too will boom soon as result of this.

We think its only a matter of time before the rest of the operators react and reduce their rates too. This puts 3G within reach of tens of millions of more subscribers. The next few months will be exciting and we hope 3G finally takes off. As the saying goes: better late than never!

Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency